You are here

Biomedical Sciences and Visualization

Funding Source: This research is funded by the Ohio Board of Regents and the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth of the Health Resource and Services Administration.Principal Investigator: Don Stredney, OSC (In collaboration with CMEOhio.com)Duration: 6/1/06 – 5/31/07

Overview This is a collaborative project by the seven schools of medicine in Ohio (Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland), University of Cincinnati, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (Akron) , Medical University of Ohio (Toledo), Ohio University (Athens), Wright State University (Dayton) and The Ohio State University Columbus). Continuing medical education (CME) is a critical component for physicians in practice to enhance and improve both patient care and patient outcomes. The physician of the 21st century is prepared and responsive to seeking CME and category 1 credits for licensure and credentialing, as well as improved patient care, through Internet distribution, web-based education. Each year the percentage of physicians who use the Internet for current and accurate clinical information continues to increase.

This effort is a second phase involving the development and dissemination of a simulation environment for teaching physicians to perform a simple punch skin biopsy. Through computer modeling, the simulation includes emulating various lesions and skin thicknesses The interface includes a force-feedback, or haptic device that provides a tactile “feel” of sampling the skin with a punch biopsy. The goal is to create an innovative training module that provides a non-threatening way to learn the subleties of performing a punch Bx and a method of evaluating competency in both synchronous (with an expert online) and asynchronous (by oneself) sessions.